Egypt

In pictures: Egypt's hidden treasures

BBC News

A set of nice photographs from some of Egypt's more unusual places. Here's the text accompanying the first photograph, showing rock art at the Mestekawi-Foggini Cave:

Egypt's western desert shelters a treasure trove of prehistoric cave paintings.

New sites dating back more than seven thousand years are still being found in the ancient Gilf Kebir plateau, near the border with Sudan and Libya.

This painting in the Mestekawi Cave was found in 2002 and is the most recent discovery.

Photographer Mohamed El Hebeishy says some sites are being destroyed by tourists who spray water onto the art to bring out the colours for photos.

The last of the nine photographs is a stunning image of the ruined mosque and tomb of Shahin al-Khalawati, which is balanced precariously on a rocky hill overlooking Cairo. I was unfamiliar with this mosque and shall seek it out next time I'm there.

- New Rock Art Research At Gilf Kebir
Reuters Archaeologists are studying prehistoric rock drawings discovered in a remote cave in 2002, including dancing figures and strange headless beasts, as they seek new clues about the rise of Egyptian civilisation. Amateur explorers stumbled across...

- Mosaic Of The Mestekawi-foggini Cave
Zerzura Club Thanks to Giancarlo Negro for sending me the above link to a mosaic of the rock art in the Mestekawi-Foggini cave in the western Gilf Kebir (Libyan borders of Egypt). To get the best out of these images you need to click on them and give...

- Features
Videos: Prehistoric Paintings, The Swimmers and The Beast in Gilf Kebir Heritage Key Thanks to Tass for sending me the link. This page a video from the Gilf Kebir showing (briefly) the Cave of Swimmers and (in much more detail) the Mestekawi Foggini cave,...

- Desert Art In Danger At Egypt's New Tourism Frontier
Middle East Online (Charles Onians) I have been nagging recently about the impact of irresponsible tourists on the Egyptian deserts. I am delighted to say that this has been excellently highlighted by the article on the above page, which points explicitly...

- Daily Photo - Mestekawi-foggini Cave
Again, I'll leave today's explanation to someone else. This is taken from an article about a visit to the Gilf Kebir by Mohamed El-Hebeishy on the Al Ahram Weekly website. El-Mestekawi Cave was discovered during an expedition similar to ours...

Egypt